Eight encounters this year alone

Soon after B G Jyothiprakash Mirji assumed charge as police commissioner in May this year, the City witnessed two encounters where a rowdy was killed and another injured. It is said police resort to encounters to gun down or cause grievous injuries to thugs when their activities become intractable. But, police dismissed the charge as a figment of imagination.

“An encounter was imminent any time going by what the City police did in the past few weeks. Hence, the encounter on Friday morning is not accidental, but a well-planned and executed task,” said an officer attached to the Central Crime Branch. In the past weeks, police raided the houses of rowdies in the early mornings, took dozens of them into custody, warned them and released them. The number of murders came down marginally, but the rowdy activities continued. The police decided to send a strong warning in the form of encounters, after the morning raids failed to yield result. The police top brass believe encounters will prevent rowdies from indulging in heinous crimes.

Encounter history

Bangalore witnessed its first police encounter in 1989 when ‘Station’ Shekhar, an associate of underworld don M P Jairaj, was shot dead. Since then, there have been more than 35 encounter deaths in the City.

In the last 11 months, police gunned down five rowdies and injured three. There were three encounters in less than 10 days between April 25 and May 5. All encounters have taken place late at night or early in the morning.